Up to €7,000 will be available to Taxi/Hackney/and Limousine drivers to drive the shift towards electric vehicles.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross TD, has today announced a new Taxi/Limousine/Hackney (SPSV) grant scheme, aimed at increasing the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Irish taxi fleet. This new electric vehicle initiative will help to stimulate the uptake of EVs in the SPSV industry by giving SPSV drivers up to €7,000 towards the purchase of an EV.

Speaking today at the launch of the scheme Minister Ross said: “the electrification of the national SPSV fleet will play a significant role in our transition to a cleaner and greener transport fleet, not only will this be beneficial for our environment, in terms of improved urban air quality and reduced CO2 emissions, but reduced running and maintenance costs will also be of major benefit to the drivers themselves”.

Analysis shows that fuel savings of up to 10 cent per km can be achieved by driving an electric vehicle in comparison to a conventionally fuelled vehicle. For a vehicle clocking up to 55,000km per annum, this would equate to fuel savings of over €5,000 and net reduction in over 3.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Currently EVs in Ireland also benefit from government purchase incentives up to a value of €10,000 (€5,000 VRT relief and €5,000 SEAI grant), qualify for the lowest band of road tax (€120 per annum), access to an extensive network of public chargers which are presently free to use, and a SEAI home charger grant scheme (up to a value of €600).

The Minister added “This new grant scheme will play a fundamental role in developing public awareness of EVs. It is a great opportunity for members of the public to experience an EV themselves, electric SPSVs will also be easily identifiable by a new type of EV sticker.”

Welcoming the new grant scheme the CEO of Nissan Ireland, James McCarthy said: “As pioneers of EV driving Nissan welcomes the new grant scheme to encourage SPSV drivers to switch from diesel to electric driving. There has never been a better time to do so. The 100% electric, zero emissions Nissan LEAF is the best-selling EV in Ireland. The new Nissan LEAF launches in Ireland in April with a range of 378 kilometres on a single charge making it the perfect partner for SPSV drivers who want to avail of the scheme and follow in the footsteps of the 2,000 Irish motorists who already drive a Nissan LEAF”.